She bravely posted pictures of her horrific injuries on social media following the attack, which last month saw Clark locked up for 11 years.

Now living in a safe house on Teesside, she says she’s determined to get back to “a normal life” for herself and her eight-year-old daughter.

Sarah, 31, first met Clark - known as ‘Slim’ - three years ago and they “just clicked”.

“I got the butterflies,” she said, “I loved him, my little girl loved him. I felt like I’d found happiness, we were even trying for a baby.”

But over time, she says Clark changed towards her.

“I’m no angel, but he’s changed me,” she said. “I became clingy to keep him. I don’t know why I let him get into my head like that.”

Sarah underwent a six-hour operation

Months after they’d separated, however, Sarah endured what she calls her “last beating” at the hands of her ex.

Teesside Crown Court heard how balaclava-clad Clark turned up at Sarah’s friend’s house in Grangetown on October 20 last year, carrying a knife.

He told Sarah: “I want to give you a Chelsea smile.”

He beat her to the ground then stamped on her “boot after boot” until she blacked out.

Sarah said: “My first thought in the ambulance was ‘how am I going to hide this?’

“He’d messaged a few days before saying, ‘I was the richest man when I was with you,’ and how he loved me.

“Then he goes and does that.”

Gary Clark was jailed for 11 years

Sarah underwent a six-hour operation to have plates fitted in both her arms after the brutal attack, which also dislodged her cheekbone.

She was unable to feed herself for a long time and lost two stone in weight.

She struggled with simple tasks including dressing herself and brushing her daughter’s hair. Her left arm, particularly, felt like a fake arm which was not really hers, she said.

Sarah has also been left mentally scarred - struggling to sleep and seeing images of the brute stamping on her when she does, and panics when she hears ambulance sirens.

Gary Clark (Image: Cleveland Police)

Now registered as homeless, Sarah is unable to return to her house in Eston, where she’s lived since 18 and has not yet been re-housed.

“I’m living in one room, we are stuck in a rut and we can’t get out.

“I just want a home for me and my daughter and to go back to normality.

“That is why I’m talking about this.”

Images taken in hospital show the extent of Sarah's injuries

And she says she feels plagued by guilt for putting her daughter through such an ordeal.

“I will carry that for the rest of my life, that is like a jail sentence in itself.

“I might look OK but I’m not OK. Every day I get up, put my make up on but there’s a dark cloud.

“I’ve never had a ‘sorry’, he’s never shown any remorse.

“I still don’t understand why he did this to me.”

Sarah Barber is determined to live a normal life again

A spokesman for Redcar and Cleveland Council said: “Our sympathies are always and firmly with all victims of domestic abuse. “We can confirm that our housing team is working with this client to help her find a home.

“One bid for a property was unsuccessful and another bid that was successful she declined. Our officers will continue to work with her to find a solution.”